The Pretty Psycho (St. Vasili’s Academy #2)

15. Adrian

15

ADRIAN

I don't trust you.

Those four little words kept echoing in my head as I watched her walk away with Yolanda, desperate to get away from me. Granted, I understood where that sentence came from, but that knowledge didn't soften the blow those words had created the moment they came out of her mouth.

She didn't fucking trust me, and why would she?

Since she came to the Academy all I had done was belittle her, threaten her, and pull her in ten different directions. Then she found those motherfucking documents before I had a chance to tell her myself. Building trust took time, but time was one thing we didn't have.

I wanted her by my side, dammit. I wanted her in my line of sight, because the mere thought of her being far away from me was sending my heart into premature cardiac arrest, and I didn't want to spend days thinking about her safety when there were other things we had to take care of. She wanted to be involved? Well, fucking great. Then she should've fucking stayed instead of running away—again.

But this time I wasn't letting her do this. The last time I let her chill and relax, I almost lost her, and I wasn't taking another chance on that.

My feet moved before I could even comprehend what was happening, my entire body already eager to touch her, to feel her, to tell her that she didn't have to trust me, for now. That she didn't have to love me, not yet. She just had to fucking stay so that I could breathe. The moment I couldn't see her body anymore, the oxygen disappeared, leaving me in a state of despair.

I'd only managed to take a couple of steps in the direction she took off when a hand landed on my shoulder, making me turn around abruptly.

Arseniy stood there with a forlorn look on his face, as if he could understand the turmoil happening inside of me.

"Don't try to stop me, brother," I murmured. "I-I… I can't let her do this again."

His head shook, and I understood that while he could see the turmoil in me, she was still his sister. She was still his priority. He loved me, he respected me, but he'd been searching for her for so long that if it came to choosing between the two of us, he would choose her. Which, as funny as it was, I was glad for. I loved the fact that she had him in her corner, because God knew what happened to those that stood on the opposite side of Arseniy Morozov.

But right now I needed him to be on my side. I needed him to understand why I couldn't let her go.

His lips moved, but no sound came out, and for the hundredth time since we met each other, I cursed his father for taking his voice from him. For crippling him in such a way, robbing him of the one thing that could make everything easier for him.

"He's saying that you need to let her go," Dimitri said from my other side, making me look at him. "She needs time, Adrian. She needs to process everything that has happened, and she needs her friend. She's gonna come to you once she's ready, but for now you need to let her go." I almost forgot that Dimitri could read lips, which was how he assisted Arseniy with practically everything.

I wished I could too because then I'd be able to understand what my friend was saying right now. He tapped my shoulder again, making me look at him, while Dimitri translated everything he said.

"The amount of information that was thrown at her in the past couple of days is a lot," Dimitri said. "She's strong, but even the strongest need to break sometimes. All of this," Dimitri continued. "It's a lot. Learning you have a brother and that the organization you've spent most of your life in was the one betraying you, is fucking a lot. But more than that, having gone through such a terrible thing shakes you to your core. So let her be. Let her relax with Yolanda."

Goddammit, I understood. I fucking understood every single point he'd made, but that didn't mean I liked it.

I knew she needed to break. I'd been waiting for her to completely shatter, to let it all out, but something told me she didn't know how to. It’d been ingrained in all of us from a very young age that emotions weren't our friends. They were the enemies we had to defeat every single minute of our waking life, and letting someone else see those emotions was as good as a death sentence.

But I wanted her to be comfortable enough to shatter with me. To come undone, while knowing that I'd be there to pick up the pieces. I felt like an addict desperate for his next fix without her here, but Arseniy was right.

I had to let her come to me, or at least I had to give her some time away from me.

I took a complete one-eighty with her, going from a seemingly disinterested man to one completely obsessed with her. Little did she know I’d been obsessed with her from the first moment I laid my eyes upon her. I’d been dreaming of her my entire life, and now that she was here it was hard letting her go.

"Fine," I bit out, finally relenting and letting my body relax as much as possible. Arseniy's hand fell off my shoulder as a sad smile graced his lips. "I understand. I don't like it," I said as I looked at Dimitri. "But I understand. She needs her time." And I needed to come up with a plan that wouldn't fucking scare her into running away again.

I turned around, seeing all of the men and women from The Brotherhood looking at us with watchful eyes. Some of them seemed confused, others smiling, but none of them looked smug about what just happened. You had to be a fool to not realize that I just had a massive fight with my girl, but no one commented on it.

Jax and Dante stood closer to the group, carefully observing my every move as I crossed the distance between me and them, as if they were asking me without words if I was okay.

I wasn't, but I would be. Eventually I would be.

Vega could have a couple of hours while I dealt with everyone that came in, but then it was game on. She wasn't sleeping anywhere else but my bed even if she fucking loathed it. She could hate me all she wanted, but I wasn't going to let her leave me. We were going to talk about all of this, whether she liked it or not. We would get to the bottom of this shit even if I had to drag her into my cabin kicking and screaming.

"Are you okay?" Jax asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "That seemed intense."

"I'm fine." Fuck did I hate that word.

Fine .

Nothing was fine. Not me, not Vega, not this whole fucking situation. We weren't supposed to start doing anything for at least another few months, yet here we were, ready to engage in a war we were definitely not prepared for. Our people were spread all over the world, and pulling them in on last-minute notice definitely took some handling. I was surprised to see the generals already here on such short notice and I would never be able to thank them enough.

"Let's just get to business," I grumbled, sidestepping him and moving closer to the men and women gathered in front of me.

Vinicius, a man I definitely wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley, stepped forward, his bright blue eyes filled with questions I was hoping I could answer. He was in charge of North America, gathering talent from all over the country, and one of the first ones to join our cause.

When we created The Brotherhood we knew we wouldn't be able to be everywhere all at once, hence the generals. Vinicius was slightly older than us, in his early thirties, and we all understood that he had seen things a human being should never see. His entire family was slaughtered during the crossfire on their last holiday together, and for someone like him, a seasoned soldier who had already seen the horrors this world could produce, that was the last trigger that sent him over the edge.

He didn't stop until he took down every single member of that organization, and he promised himself and all those victims that he wouldn't stop with them.

"What's happening, Adrian?" he asked first, crossing his arms over his chest. "I understand that there's a shit show, but I want to know what level of a shit show we're talking about."

"Never one to mince your words, huh?" I chuckled, taking a step closer to him. I reached my hand out. As a sinister grin passed over his face, he took a hold and shook it, before pulling me in for a hug.

"It's been a hot minute since I've seen your ugly face."

"Likewise, my friend," I laughed, patting him on the back. I took a step back, my eyes zeroing in on the scar going over his eye, cutting through his eyebrow and ending up in his hairline. He never spoke of what transpired that night when his entire family was massacred, but he wore the scars that spoke of the monstrosities, reminding us all that we weren't untouchable. "We have a massive problem, Vin," I said. "Well," I cleared my throat. "Calling it a problem would be the understatement of the year."

"Hmm," he hummed, his eyes focusing on the building behind me. "I thought you said May," he remarked, reminding me of the plan we had made not so long ago. "Had I known it would be happening now, I would've found more manpower."

"Truth be told, we thought it wouldn't happen before May." There was no need for me to explain what was happening. There were problems, and then there were problems . Vin knew what he was getting himself into when he started this gig with us. Heck, we all knew what we were getting ourselves into.

There were no guarantees for any of us, but at least we could say we had tried. We had no idea if we would be able to take down the current Elite sitting on their thrones and destroying not just us but the world around us, but we had to try. We had to fucking try for the generations that were about to come.

None of us were good men and women. Every single one of us had sins to atone for, and perhaps this was just that first step we needed to take in order to bring them down.

I wasn't lying to myself thinking that with us at the top the world would be a better place, but we could learn from the mistakes of our fathers and mothers. We could learn from those that came before us. A line had to be drawn somewhere, and our parents didn't know how to draw it. They had no idea where to stop, because their greed was infinite. Completely out of control.

They didn't care who they had to destroy in order to get what they wanted. They didn't care about the world they were leaving behind, acting as if they could bring their riches into the next world.

There was honor once among our people. There were rules we followed back in the day, before the newer generations took over. Right now it was like a constant battlefield, this world of ours, and I was sick and tired of being someone's puppet when I didn't agree with what they've been doing.

Vega was proof of what they were doing to innocent children. The Schatten used to stand for something until Heinrich took over, and while I had no idea of his involvement with my father up until recently, I knew that Heinrich Sr. had handled things differently. Children only became part of The Schatten once Heinrich Jr. took over, using those innocent lives to further his agenda.

"Let's get inside," Dante said. "We have a lot to talk about and I am not too keen on freezing out here."

"Why?" A familiar dark-haired woman exited a car, making me curse inwardly. Gabriela Barone in the flesh. The last time I saw her she was trying to bite my head off because I knocked Vega out. A sharp intake of breath was all I heard from Dante as she proceeded closer to us, smiling wickedly at the poor man standing behind me. "Are your balls freezing, little Dante?"

Vin chuckled, my eyes rolled, and I just waited for the nuclear bomb in the form of one of my friends to explode. It was no secret that Gabriela and Dante pretty much hated each other, which never truly made sense to me considering that they practically grew up together. They were from different families, but from what I understood, their fathers were friends. There was no bad blood between them, but Dante rarely ever spoke about the dark-haired beauty and the reasons behind their animosity toward each other.

"Gabriela," Dante bit out. I turned around to look at him and saw the barely contained rage swirling in his dark eyes. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"Well." She shrugged. "When the big boss calls, I answer." She looked at Jax, smiling, hiding her venomous nature behind it. "Hi, Jaxy."

"Gabs," Jax nodded, keeping his distance from her. As he should. God help the man who would one day end up trapped in her vicious little web.

Gabriela Barone was an expert in her field, but that expertise was exactly why I never would want to touch her, even with a ten-foot pole. As the only female capo right now, she held more power than one could ever imagine. That also meant that she had more enemies than she needed, which was exactly why she approached us about The Brotherhood the moment she heard about our endeavors.

Dante hated the idea of her joining.

Jax wasn't so sure.

Ethan didn't give a fuck who joined as long as he could do his thing.

Arseniy kept quiet, and me… Well, I understood what having someone like her could bring us.

"It's good to see you, Gabriela."

"I'd say the same, but I'd be lying, Adrian." She yawned, telling us without so many words how bored she was by this entire situation. "I was on a trip in Dubai, filling my shopping bags, when my phone rang and Jaxy here told me I had to come. So, here I am."

"Here you are." I chuckled, feeling the dark energy emanating from Dante. "Still, thank you for coming. I'm sure it wasn't an easy feat leaving Dubai, especially not during this time of the year. I hear the weather is absolutely amazing right now."

"Oh," she perked up, "it definitely is. Not too warm, not too cold, just perfect." She took a step toward me, grasping my elbow before she turned us around and started heading toward the main building. "But it gets boring, you know." She kept on going as we walked toward the main entrance, passing by Dante. If looks could kill, Gabriela would've been dead by now. "But tell me more about this little issue we have. What's happening?" she asked, completely ignoring the fact that I kept on chuckling the entire time.

Gabriela was used to having her way, no matter what. She was a warrior, a survivor, and she hated men with a passion. There was a reason they called her the Black Widow of Italy, and it had nothing to do with her dark hair.

"So," she started, looking up at me. "Is it that fucker you call a father?" She was never one to mince her words, and she wasn't starting now.

"Yeah, it's Gerard."

"God," she huffed. "I really hate him. I mean, I always hated him, but in the last couple of years he turned out to be a real piece of shit." She wasn't wrong there. "Tell me about our plan, caro . My men are on the way, but it'll take them maybe a day to fully assemble here. Is there something I could do in the meantime? Is there someone I need to kill?"

I laughed out loud this time, unable to stop myself. We paused at the top of the stairs, just in front of the entrance, waiting for everyone else to catch up with us. The entire group followed us, murmuring between themselves and talking about the plan and the things that were ahead of us, none of them being as direct as Gabriela.

What she wanted, she got, no matter what, and as much as I wanted to strangle her sometimes, especially when she fucked with Dante's mind, I still admired her. She and Vega were similar in that way, getting what they wanted, and I hoped that my girl would be able to get on with Gabriela.

"There's no one to be killed," I said. "Yet. But," I looked at Dante whose eyes kept throwing daggers at Gabriela, "there'll be plenty of training for all of us, and there are some new members you'll get to meet."

"Oh." She leaned toward me. "I already met your girl before." Her murmur sent shivers over my body, reminding me of Vega and where we stood at the moment. "She's fierce."

"She is." I nodded.

I just needed her to start trusting me and realize that she could be both—loved and fierce at the same time.

"Hmm," Gabriela hummed, her eyes plastered to my profile. "You really like her, don't you?" I looked down at her, seeing for the first time since I'd met her with a softness in her eyes. I didn't have to say anything because what I felt for Vega was already written on every single inch of my body. My feelings for her were a part of my coding now, and I didn't care who saw it. "Good," Gabriela nodded. "Make sure you show her as well and not just tell her. Us women," she chuckled, leaning close, "we kinda need action and not just words, Adrian. Words mean nothing if your actions aren't backing them up."

Wasn't that the truth?

"Come on." She pulled me, heading toward the doors. "I want to get this over with and then I want a nice, long bath to wash the stench of the plane off me."

"I thought you flew in your private jet."

"Of course I did," she smiled, "but that doesn't mean it doesn't stink after a seven-hour flight."

I let her lead me inside, shaking my head the entire time, all the while pondering over what she said. Vega needed action, not just my words, and all I’d done so far was tell her how I felt without truly showing her.

But that was about to change.